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My frisky young friend stopped by yesterday on the way home from picking up his frisky 2-stroke 250 Yamaha. We went for a ride around the block – a 7 mile or so loop that is half gravel/dirt and half paved. He, of course, was ‘on the pipe’ all the way as I plodded along riding Dr Zee at my own pace. The rain started almost immediately, but we went anyway. Near the half-way point, on the dirt, a newish pickup and newish Suburban were mostly blocking the road parked window to window while the drivers chatted. I stopped, then began to inch around the front of the Suburban that was aimed in the direction we were headed. I […]
The weather has been in and out of season for me until recently, but gardens, shop and yard work grabbed every decent outdoor day that came along. FINALLY I got my Suzuki DRZ400S in a ready-to-hop-on mode and my head-space corrected. Today I ran an errand to the bigger town 18 miles downstream and Dr Zee got the nod as my preferred transporter. Of course the route he chose was not the main highway, but the scenic old road way. It put a smile on my face and in my spirit. I gotta get out more… and think I will now. I must say that I LOVE the lowering we did to the 400S, turning it into a 400SM […]
I was going to build my own utility trailer from an old boat trailer I bought, but came across a more commonsense approach at Harbor Freight. To the left is the completed unit with my added decking lumber. Its maiden voyage was ferrying my Dr. Zee to an Idaho Star motorcycle class in Twin Falls. Here you see my wife’s brother Bruce tying it down HIS WAY for our trip back home. Assembly was not overly challenging, but without a significant tool set, skill set and helping hand friend it would have been difficult or not possible to complete. The result is a new trailer with new lights, wires, bearings, tires, paint and all. Sure, they are all of […]
I am sharing this from another rider and writer as a note to self as much as anything – Ted – by an ER Nurse Who Rides How do you mix bikes with a career in the ER? Photo: Mircea Moira/Shutterstock.com Alex Colpitts is a registered nurse who spent years working in the emergency room—and he’s also a motorcyclist. How does he reconcile the risk of riding with his time seeing the aftermath of crashes? Read on: I have been riding motorcycles for 20 years now. Like most riders, I’m frequently asked “Aren’t you afraid of crashing? Dying?”. My answer is always that, yes, of course I am—I’ve seen the consequences first-hand. I have been a registered nurse for […]
I grew up in idyllic Sonoma County that nature graced with beauty and interest in every direction from border to border. Lightly traveled mountain roads, river roads and Highway 1 skirting the rugged coastline were perfect for 20-something sports car and bike aficionados. Running solo more often than not, I gloried in the capabilities of my series of old-school Porsches and a sweet-handling BSA 650. Rarely did the destination have any significance; the journey was everything. I was leading a sports car tour to the Big Sur campground for a weekend of watching premium sports car racing at Laguna Seca. This group of young couples had shoehorned our gear into 50s and 60s topless cars with similar luggage capacity to […]
Once in a while I simply get lucky as a photographer. I suppose as a modestly inspired amateur, that will be the only way I get a photo that really tickles me. Below is one of them. At my skill level, getting the lighting just right to comfortably light the background while focusing attention, and projecting a welcoming feeling has to be totally a lucky shot, but this one speaks volumes for the shop guy, and the car guy in me. I briefly opened the bay doors to admit the Honda for its overdue wheel swap from summer to winter. The woodburner in the far corner got the shop heat back up to a workspace comfortable 45-60 in no time. […]
As the season for comfortable motorcycle riding comes to a close, I managed to grab another quick trip on Leo. I am guessing that makes about 500 total for me on he … stuff got in the way. Just before I reached Lost Trail Pass, I saw wet pavement in a corner warning me to slow way down. One or two curves later it was slushy snow. Okay. Game Over. Besides that, while I started off from Darby in comfortable 50-degree air, by the time I reached 7,000 feet it was in the mid 30s … not so comfortable … inspired me to turn on the heated grips … then the heated seat. Nice, but my knees were still a […]
I like the bike in many ways, but its extraordinarily tall 37″ seat height makes it too awkward for me to enjoy, or even ride safely. We will take parts from another model of the Suzuki DRZ400 that is lower, and some other changes competent motorcycle mechanics can make to drop it down a bit more. So that is where it is today, in The Motorcycle Garage for installation of the DRZ400SM parts and other height adjustment modifications. What we have here are the “before” pictures I took on my way to the surgeon. Old Darby Road was photogenic Friday, not to mention a pleasant ride. Doctor Zee is a nice bike once I have it rolling. Moving down […]
The weather prognosticators are predicting significant drops in temperature and increases in that frozen water thing Montana likes to do to us. Meanwhile, my new-to-me 2009 BMW R1200RS-P (patrol or police model) bike has way-too-few me miles on it. Thursday I pushed all my ‘get the estate ready for winter’ chores aside to grab what may turn out to be my last highway munching ride of the season. The Iron Butt (long distance motorcyclist) guys may snicker, but 160 miles was way better than spending all winter wishing I had taken it out one more time. The roads were excellent, the patrol bike was a great pleasure to ride, the weather suited my clothes perfectly and the scenery was […]
As it turns out, I am reasonably adept at both. The first came naturally and easily to me. Just be Ted. Actually, the repair was natural as well, though not as easy. Friday I spent hours with hedge shears cutting the noxious weeds in my potato patch. This involved A LOT of stooping and bending giving me a very sore back that evening. Saturday morning I was happily symptom free, so I promptly FIXED THAT by taking my Dutch hoe to noxious weeds in the chicken yard. About three-quarters of the way through I was feeling tenderness in my lower back, but I was ALMOST DONE! So, of course, I finished the job. My back was still sore Sunday […]
Nobody could tell me, but I’ll give a go at warning those capable of listening … I am a returning rider who is definitely not young, flexible or strong. I picked up a new 2009 BMW R1200RT motorcycle in Denver. It only had 14,000 miles on odometer when 80,000 is more typical of these on the used market. It took the dealership until 6:00 PM (well into Denver’s going home commute traffic) to send me down the road with new tires mounted and new fuel pump installed. My first hour on the new bike was slightly uncomfortable surrounded by commuters, trucks and vacationers with big city attitudes as I made my way to a family reunion in Monument, Colorado. Friday […]
The background on this car … I was an enthusiastic, radical, seriously competitive Sports Car Guy for most of my life… okay, still am. For 20 years THAT CAR was a 1956 Porsche Speedster barn find – a very rare car that was lightweight and lent itself for high performance driving … Just what the doctor ordered. It also became highly valued in the collector market and its sale in 1999 financed my escape from The People’s Republic of California. After about 16 years sports-car-less, I picked up a very-well-prepared autocross car that was vintage, collectable, lightweight and ticked all the boxes for this enthusiastic, radical, seriously competitive Sports Car Guy. I spent a lot of time and money […]
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